MUMBAI: Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to give an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the two victims from Dahanu who lost their lives in the terror attack on Amarnath Yatra on Monday.
Among the seven killed in the terror attack on the Amarnath Yatra, two - Nirmala Thakur (53) and Usha Sonkar (54) – were from Maharashtra. They were residents of Santoshi Nagar in Dahanu, which is around 140 km away from Mumbai.
The Maharashtra government arranged for a helicopter to bring the two bodies from Surat to Dahanu.
Nirmala Thakur’s family got to know about the attack and her death almost immediately from a fellow pilgrim Bhagyamani Thakur.
Nirmala’s son Pradeep Thakur, said, “My aunt (Bhagyamani) sat on an aisle seat while my mother occupied the seat by the window. When the terrorists fired on the glass-windowed bus, it killed my mother and my aunt received injuries from the shattered glass.”
Pradeep’s father Bharat (60) used to run a dairy which he had shut down few years back and was leading a retired life, he added.
Usha Sonkar’s family runs a vegetable shop in Dahanu. Usha’s husband Mohanlal Sonkar said that they were all supposed to join her on the pilgrimage. However, due to certain circumstances she alone went on the pilgrimage.
“We got a call from authorities in the morning. We all are in an utter sense of shock,” Sonkar said.
Usha has four daughters and a son. Three of her daughters have been married, said her brother-in-law Guddu.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted earlier, “Maharashtra strongly condemns the cowardly attack on #AmarnathYatra pilgrims in J&K. Our deepest condolences to the bereaved families.”
He also spoke to Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti and expressed his grief over the terror attack.